A blog full of bits of historical information, comments & observations, photographs (old and new), oddball ramblings and other totally random stuff.

Friday, September 26, 2014

STILL IN CAMP...

I have a small collection of old catalogs,
including several from Sears (late 1800s to 1920s) and one from Charles William
Stores, a mail order company in New York; I have, too, a bunch of old magazines
and newspapers, and I can find amazing details in all of them.

Last week, after posting the
photograph of the Gould kids in their pup tent, I started wondering about tents
a century ago...and here’s what I found in those old publications...

In the early 1900s, the choices were more
varied than one might think: Miners’ Tents, Hudson Tents, Wedge Tents, Concession, Play
and Lawn Tents, all made of “water-resisting duck” cloth, and all supported by
an oftentimes bizarre combination of “wood pole, metal frame and line.”

There
were tents in stripes and/or solids; tents with “a handsome scalloped curtain
all around at the top of the walls,” tents with the walls themselves “arranged
so that each can be rolled up separately, or used as an awning.”

“Never,”
one ad exclaims, “roll or fold tenting while damp or rainy for fear of mold or
decay!”

By 1929, the choices in the Sears catalog
were nearly out of hand.

“We Offer the Greatest Tent
Values in America”
screams the banner headline on a two-page spread.

But the best of all were the “Tourists’
Tents,” popular for “week-end trips” in the family automobile. These were
7x9-foot tents with two windows and sewed-in front curtains; additional front
awnings could be drawn over the top of the car (see photo) to help support the
tent and, one presumes, allow for extra space in the seats of the car. $15.95.

I look at that arrangement and shudder.

All things
considered, I think I’d rather stay at a Motel 6, thank you.

How wonderful to have those old catalogs! And you're right. You can learn a lot from old catalogs - especially about how prices have escalated! I have a few catalogs from various places, but they don't go back quite as far as yours do. Still, they're fun to thumb through once in a while. Not sure about that tent encompassing the car? I think I'd rather have an RV.

I got a kick out of seeing these vintage tents. When I tent camped, (out of my trunk of my car,) where picnic tables were provided as well as a platform for the tents, we often were glad to have posts and trees from which to sling a tarp of waterproof plastic-cloth...in the 70s and 80s, which provided a dry place to cook and eat. US National Forest and Park Services, as well as state parks.

Tent platforms were very handy; I remember using them whenever possible to keep out of the damp, but I needed a thin strip of foam between me and that platform! Adirondack shelters were good, too, and there are still a lot of them in state parks.

At last!

In the early 1800s, five families settle on the Eastern River in Pittston, Maine. Together, they build a strong and lasting agricultural neighborhood based on New England values of community and reciprocity. Both fiction and social history, The Eastern flows through the experiences and truths we share with those who have lived before us.